Television has a prime role to play in the formation of discursive domains in the everyday life of South Asian publics. This book explores various television media practices, social processes, mediated political experiences and everyday cultural compositions from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. With the help of country specific case studies, it captures broad range of themes which foreground the publics and their real-life experiences of television in the region. The essays in this book discuss gendered television spaces; women seeking solace from television in pandemic; the taboo in digital tv dramas; television viewership and localizing publics; changing viewership from television to OTT; news and public perception of death; re-defining 'the national'; theatrical television; and post truth television news, among other key issues. Rich in ethnographic case studies, this volume will be a useful resource for scholars and researchers of media and communication studies, journalism, digital media, South Asian studies, cultural studies, sociology and social anthropology.

Television has a prime role to play in the formation of discursive domains in the everyday life of South Asian publics. This book explores various television media practices, social processes, mediated political experiences and everyday cultural compositions from Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. With the help of country-specific case studies, it captures a broad range of themes which foreground the publics and their real-life experiences of television in the region. The chapters in this book discuss gendered television spaces, women seeking solace from television in pandemic, the taboo in digital TV dramas, television viewership and localizing publics, changing viewership from television to OTT, news and public perception of death, redefining ‘the national’, theatrical television and post-truth television news, among other key issues. Rich in ethnographic case studies, this volume will be a useful resource for scholars and researchers of media and communication studies, journalism, digital media, South Asian studies, cultural studies, sociology and social anthropology.

This book explores the empirical and theoretical significance of understanding television as a dynamic technology, a creative industry, and a vibrant cultural form that is "at large" in South Asia. Bringing together prominent scholars who have shaped television studies in South Asia, as well as emerging scholars who address new topics, this book decisively positions television as a key site in the study of South Asian History and Culture. In doing so, it also positions the study of television in South Asia and the South Asian diaspora as crucial in the rethinking of global television history and opens up new directions for the future of television studies. This volume will be essential reading for scholars and teachers of media and communication studies, media history, anthropology, and sociology, besides being of great interest to policymakers and media professionals. This book was originally published as a special issue of South Asian History and Culture.

Takes a scholarly perspective aimed at creating debate about the role and function of public service broadcasting at a time that it is facing a variety of threats, from governments, and from commercialization of broadcasting. This book gives a global perspective on the state of public service broadcasting in the age of globalization.

This book critically examines the role and politics of humour and the performance of power in South Asia. What does humour do and how does it manifest when lived political circumstances experience ruptures or instability? Can humour that emerges in such circumstances be viewed as a specific narrative on the nature of democracy in the region? Drawing upon essays from India, Sri Lanka and Bangladesh, this volume discusses many crucial historical and contemporary themes, including dance-drama performances in northern India; caste and stand-up comedy in India; cartoon narratives of citizens’ anxieties; civic participation through social media memes in Sri Lanka; media, politics and humorous public in Bangladesh; the politics of performance in India; and the influence of humour and satire as political commentaries. The volume explores the impact of humour in South Asian folklore, ritual performances, media and journalism, and online technologies. This topical and interdisciplinary book will be essential for scholars and researchers of cultural studies, political science, sociology and social anthropology, media and communication studies, theatre and performance studies, and South Asian studies.

This book examines the role of 24/7 television news channels in Bangladesh. By using a multi-sited ethnography of television news media, it showcases the socio-political undercurrents of media practices and the everydayness of TV news in Bangladesh. It discusses a wide gamut of issues such as news making; localised public sphere; audience reaction and viewing culture; impact of rumours and fake news; socio-political conditions; protest mobilization; newsroom politics and perspectives from the ground. An important intervention in the subject, this book will be useful to scholars and researchers of media studies, journalism and mass communication, anthropology, cultural studies, political sociology, political science, sociology, South Asian studies, as well as television professionals, journalists, civil society activists, and those interested in the study of Bangladesh.

`An outstanding book on a significant topic... I recommend this highly to interested readers' - Arvind Singhal, Professor and Presidential Research Scholar, Ohio University `Imagi-Nations and Borderless Television neatly captures the revolution that television in Asia has gone through over the last 15 years.... Important for anyone wishing to understand the future of Asian television' - Andre Nair, Chairman and CEO Asia Pacific, Mediaedge: CIA `The book is overdue... a useful reference for anyone who is interested in the development of transnational television in Asia' - Joseph Man Chan, Professor of Communications, Chinese University of Hong Kong `Amos Owen Thomas takes us through this momentous change, with an extensively researched and cogently argued book. A must-read volume for scholars interested in television in Asia and around the world' - Daya K Thussu, Professor, University of Westminster The media and communications scene in Asia underwent radical transformation towards the turn of the 20th century. The advent in the early 1990s of transnational television via satellite caught Asia unawares, much as it has the world over. This book brings a transnational and inter-disciplinary perspective to understanding the media industry in Southeast, South and Northeast Asia. Imagi-Nations and Borderless Television demonstrates that the globalisation of cultural industries involves not homogenising westernization, but postmodern hybridisation. Amos Owen Thomas analyses how and why this has occurred within the larger context of economic, political, social and cultural processes within regions, nation-states, transborder ethnic communities, even international diaspora. He argues that in the case of transnational television, growth was influenced not just by governments and policy makers but also by the strategic management decisions of media owners, cable operators, satellite providers, ad agencies, marketers and other players, whether pro-active or reactive. Not only does this book explicate the processes of television globalization, it seeks to raise some socio-ethical issues that ought to be addressed in managing newer electronic media in these and other developing countries and emerging markets around the world. Challenging conventional notions about the cultural imperialism of global media conglomerates, this book is widely welcomed by a broad readership ranging from communication and media studies to multinational business, policy makers and NGOs. Amos Owen Thomas is an Associate Professor of International Business at the Maastricht School of Management, Netherlands.

In Pakistan, religious talk shows emerged as a popular television genre following the 2002 media liberalization reforms. Since then, these shows have become important platforms where ideas about Islam and religious authority in Pakistan are developed and argued. In Religious Television and Pious Authority in Pakistan, Taha Kazi reveals how these talk shows mediate changes in power, belief, and practice. She also identifies the sacrifices and compromises that religious scholars feel compelled to make in order to ensure their presence on television. These scholars, of varying doctrinal and educational backgrounds—including madrasa-educated scholars and self-taught celebrity preachers—are given screen time to debate and issue religious edicts on the authenticity and contemporary application of Islamic concepts and practices. In response, viewers are sometimes allowed to call in live with questions. Kazi maintains that these featured debates inspire viewers to reevaluate the status of scholarly edicts, thereby fragmenting religious authority. By exploring how programming decisions inadvertently affect viewer engagements with Islam, Religious Television and Pious Authority in Pakistan looks beyond the revivalist impact of religious media and highlights the prominence of religious talk shows in disrupting expectations about faith.

Television studies must now address a complex environment where change has been vigorous but uneven, and where local and national conditions vary significantly. Globalizing media industries, deregulatory policy regimes, the multiplication, convergence and trade in media formats, the emergence of new content production industries outside the US/UK umbrella, and the fragmentation of media audiences are all changing the nature of television today: its content, its industrial structure and how it is consumed. Television Studies after TV leads the way in developing new ways of understanding television in the post-broadcast era. With contributions from leading international scholars, it considers the full range of convergent media now implicated in understanding television, and also focuses on large non-Anglophone markets – such as Asia and Latin America — in order to accurately reflect the wide variety of structures, forms and content which now organise television around the world.

The significant changes that have swept the television industry over the last two decades, most notably a shift to deregulation in broadcast media, prompt a discussion on how to ensure that meaningful content is available to the viewer. Television and Public Policy analyzes the current state of television systems in a selected group of countries by exploring the political, economic, and technological factors that have shaped the sector in such a short span of time. Consequently, by positioning the television sector within issues of media policy and the regulatory framework, the book questions what these trends mean for television, and the historical, political, and cultural role in our societies. Television and Public Policy distinguishes itself in several ways: *It is a global project in its comparative scope and subject area. Contributors represent countries including Australia, Brazil, Canada, China, Egypt, India, Iran, Ireland, Israel, Italy, Japan, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Poland, the United Kingdom, and the United States. *It is contemporary and filled with information largely absent in current literature. *It offers original analysis of the contemporary television sector. This book speaks to a broad range of academics, postgraduate, and undergraduate students, and can serve as a key resource for courses ranging from media studies, to development studies, international relations, and law.